You shouldn’t have too much trouble making your way into downtown, even when the Cogswell redevelopment is in full swing.
Donna Davis, Project Manager with the Cogswell District Redevelopment, said the goal is to complete the project with as little disruption to traffic as possible.
Davis said, to that end, the city is setting up three bypass roads allowing cars to avoid the construction work.
“That will actually allow people to drive through the project, and not necessarily have to go around it.”
Davis said they intend to maintain a four-lane road north-south and a two-lane road east-west through the entirety of the project.
She said the bypass roads will be full urban streets, with sidewalks, and maintain similar traffic capacity to what’s available now.
However, Davis said the bypass road will not be highway speed, as most of the Cogswell Interchange is now, but will be city street speed, as the streets in the Cogswell District will be after the redevelopment.
She said the city is working with businesses around the project to ensure access to their sites.
“Downtown will certainly be open,” she said. “People should be able to access their work, their homes, and the businesses as they do today.”
Davis said, of course, there will be congestion at times, just like in the rest of the downtown core.
The bypass roads are set to open in the spring.
Cogswell District Redevelopment project will see an enormous new neighbour in the city’s downtown core, with four parks, active transportation trails and more than half a dozen new mixed-use buildings.
